MIAMI -- Quiet by nature, Isaac Galloway doesn’t usually wear his emotions on his sleeve. The Marlins’ 29-year-old outfielder is soft spoken and stays calm. But, on his left arm, he has a tattoo of a grim reaper-like image holding a baseball bat. Below the image it reads: “Can’t Break Me.”

In professional baseball, where there are no guarantees, Galloway keeps grinding away. On Tuesday, the same day he was promoted from Triple-A New Orleans, he made two tremendous defensive plays.

Galloway even chipped in on offense with a single off of Chicago starter José Quintana, but his heroics weren’t able to reverse the game’s outcome. The Cubs prevailed 4-0 at Marlins Park to take the first two games of the series.

“I guess I've been the kind of person who has had to fight and grind my whole life,” Galloway said of the tattoo on his arm. “I thought it was kind of fitting to get it.”

There’s certainly been plenty of chances for Galloway to have walked away from professional baseball. The Marlins drafted him in the eighth round in 2008, and the native of Los Osos, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., didn’t make his MLB debut until July 31, 2018.

Galloway opened the season at New Orleans, and he was called up to provide some defensive help in the outfield. In all, he’s appeared in 958 Minor League games, with 3,438 at-bats. Now, he’s getting another big league chance.

It didn’t take long for Galloway to make his presence felt in right field for the Marlins. In the fifth inning, the right fielder threw out Daniel Descalso attempting to tag up and advance to third. Then, in the seventh, he robbed Kris Bryant of extra bases with a catch on the warning track.

“I take pride in my defense,” Galloway said. “I always have. Obviously, we weren't able to do it tonight. I'm trying to do my part, and trying to play good defense.”

Before the game, Marlins manager Don Mattingly praised Galloway’s defense.

“Really, we’re just trying to find a little bit of offense, and he’s also a guy we know is probably the best defender in the outfield in any spot we put him in our organization,” Mattingly said.

In the fifth inning, Galloway prevented the Cubs from adding to their 2-0 lead. Descalso led off with a double, and was trying to tag and advance on a Bryant fly ball to right.

Galloway rocketed a perfect strike to third baseman Brian Anderson, who applied the tag on Descalso on a play that wasn’t even that close. Statcast tracked Galloway’s throw at 91.4 mph, and the ball carried 254 feet.

“The throw was kind of textbook, how you teach it all the way through the Minors,” Mattingly said. “On that play, you get behind it, you catch it on arm side. You catch it where you make that exchange as quickly as you can.”

Bryant’s fly ball turned into a double play thanks to Galloway’s throw, which stalled the inning. Miami starter Pablo López then struck out Anthony Rizzo to end the fifth.

“That changed the whole inning,” said Lopez, who allowed two runs in five innings of work. “It also changed the dynamics. It gets us going. It takes a rally away from the other team. No one is on base. You're facing Rizzo with two outs, and not one out and a runner on third. It changed the dynamic.”

“You felt like the throw at third is one of those plays that can change a game, from that standpoint, you get out of that inning,” Mattingly said. “Then he leads off the next inning with a hit. You're hoping this game has a chance to change right there. We just weren't able to do it.”

Galloway saved more runs in the seventh inning, running down a long drive to right-center, again off of Bryant’s bat. The ball traveled 381 feet, according to Statcast, with an exit velocity of 100.5 mph. The launch angle was 26 degrees, and the expected batting average (XBA) was .700.

Statcast graded his efforts a four-star catch. He had a 35 percent catch probability, and covered 91 feet in 5.1 seconds. His sprint speed was 28 feet/second. The MLB average is 27 feet/second.

“During batting practice, I got a few reps in,” Galloway said. “It's a little different playing in a big league ballpark, with the height and the way the ball travels. Just trust your instincts. The more and more you're out there, the more comfortable you get.”